Thursday, October 01, 2015

MURFREESBORO — A forensic scientist whose
meticulous research laid the foundation for investigating — and finding answers
for — mass disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and United Flight 93 will reveal
some of his techniques at MTSU Tuesday, Oct. 27.

His free
public talk is part of the university’s William M. Bass Legends in Forensic
Science Lectureship, presented by MTSU’s Forensic Institute for Research and
Education, or FIRE. A searchable, printable campus parking map is available at http://tinyurl.com/MTSUParking2015-16.

Dirkmaat
is chair of the undergraduate applied forensic sciences program and the
master’s program in anthropology at Mercyhurst University in Erie, Pennsylvania.
Since 1986, he’s conducted more than 560 forensic anthropology cases for nearly
60 coroners, medical examiners and state and local police in Pennsylvania, New
York, Ohio and West Virginia.

He’s
participated as a primary forensic anthropologist in commercial plane crash
incidents in Pittsburgh, Guam and Rhode Island, as well as natural disasters
including Hurricane Katrina and the Haiti earthquake. In 2001, Dirkmaat served as
the primary scientific adviser during the recovery and identification of the
Sept. 11 victims of United Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

During
his MTSU lecture, Dirkmaat will detail one of his most recent efforts: working
with the Erie County Medical Examiner’s Office in Buffalo, New York, to direct
the recovery of victims of the Colgan Air Flight 3407 crash outside Buffalo in
February 2009.

That
disaster, when a Bombardier Dash-8 Q400 went down in a wintry mix between
Newark, New Jersey, and Buffalo and struck a house, claimed all 49 occupants on
board the aircraft and one person on the ground.

During
his MTSU visit, Dirkmaat will discuss some of his latest research and practical
experiences in documenting and collecting forensic evidence at large-scale mass
disaster scenes. Through experimenting with mock disaster scenes, forensic
archaeological methods and high-end technology, he developed scene-processing
standards that are now used nationally.

He’ll
also explain how the protocols worked on a number of actual scenes, including
the United Flight 93 and Colgan Air Flight 3407 crashes.

The Bass
Lecture Series, named for internationally renowned University of Tennessee
forensic anthropologist Dr. William M. Bass, brings forensic science experts to
the MTSU campus each fall and spring.

MTSU’s
FIRE, established in 2006, also provides regular educational and training
opportunities for law enforcement, medical examiners, coroners, attorneys,
social workers, and other groups in forensic science and homeland security.

For more
information on this lecture or other FIRE programs and events, contact the FIRE
offices at 615-494-7713 or visit http://www.csimtsu.com.